Devereux is wild about West

Most of the trainers who left Maryland to spend the winter at warm-weather tracks soon will return for the Pimlico spring meet, which begins next Tuesday.

But Devereux won't be among them.

The Howard County-born horseman said yesterday that he plans to stay in California and race his seven-horse string there for the rest of the year.

"I like the challenge," said Devereux, 41. "The horses I have right now are holding their own and each of my four owners is making money. Then I'll re-evaluate the situation and see if I like it here this time next year as much as I do now."

Devereux goes for his third straight victory today at Santa Anita Park. During the past week he has won an $80,000 claimer with Dior's Angel and the $60,000 Cedar Key Handicap with Laurel Turf Cup winner Square Cut. He starts Square Cut's younger half-sister, Baby Diamonds, in today's feature.

In all, Devereux has won four races, had seven seconds and five thirds and the horses have earned more than $200,000 in purse money in a four-month period.

"My four winners -- Square Cut, Dior's Angel, Robber Ramble and Baby O'Mine -- have collectively won about $120,000 just from their winning races. So each victory is almost like winning a small stakes in Maryland," he said.

Devereux said since the times are fast and the tracks are hard in California, he has had to alter his training methods. "You have to work the horses faster and not run them quite as often," he said. "I've also found that with the jockeys you can do just as well getting a kid that listens and tries hard than you do getting a name rider."

In addition to Ed Wachtel, who is from New York, Devereux has three Maryland owners, Jimmy Caiopoulos, Tom McDermott and Andrew Stonefield.

A5 "All are behind me 100 percent and want to invest

more money in horses," Devereux said. "For the owner that wants to invest in the better quality horse, this is the place to do it since the purse structure is so high."

Cohen's stable to continue

Ben Cohen, the former Pimlico Race Course owner who died yesterday at 94, still had about eight racehorses in his Florida stable, according to his grandson, Maryland trainer John Davison.

All the horses are with Cohen's longtime trainer, Hubert "Sonny" Hine, at Gulfstream Park. In addition to Maryland Million winner Coolin It and allowance winner Jetting Along, Davison said his grandfather's best horse currently racing is the 3-year-old colt Red Tazz.

Davison said his grandmother, Zelda Cohen, probably will sell some of the horses, but will continue to operate the stable.

Cohen's biggest win as an owner came in 1965 when he won the Belmont Stakes with Hail To All. His best year as a breeder came in 1976 when he bred seven stakes winners, equaling Nelson Bunker Hunt in the national standings.

Miscellaneous

Robert Meyerhoff's Triple Crown nominee, Looming, came from last place in a five-horse field yesterday and beat Dixie Power by three quarters of a length in the $30,000 feature at Laurel Race Course. The horse next faces Run Alden in the April 2 Private Terms Stakes at Pimlico. . . . Frances Hill Myers' Takeitlikeaman finished sixth on Monday in the $100,000 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. Championship Stakes at Ocala, Fla. Laurel jockey Rick Wilson won two $50,000 stakes on the card with Pagofire and Meadow Monster, both trained by Ben Perkins Jr. . . . Soul Of The Matter, upset winner of the San Felipe Stakes over Brocco and Valiant Nature, is a Maryland Million nominee. He is sired by Maryland stallion Private Terms.